1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a sealing assembly to form a watertight seal between a sailboat mast and the boat deck.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It has been a long standing problem with sailboat owners with keel stepped mast to stop water leaking where the mast and the deck join. This leaking around the mast is an annoying and damaging problem.
Small sailboats usually use deck stepped masts and with the deck stepped mast the mast does not protrude through the deck. Since there is no hole in the deck, there is no leaking problem.
In keel stepped masts, which is usually designed in sailboats 30 feet or longer, the mast is secured to the keel of the boat and protrudes through the decking. The prior method of sealing the keel stepped masts is to provide a mast collar secured to the deck with a turned up ledge parallel to the mast. Wooden wedges are placed between the mast and the ledge of the collar to support the mast. The remaining space is filled with caulking compound and a canvass or rubber boot is placed over the mast and collar ledge. Large hose type clamps are then used to secure the boot to the collar ledge and the mast. Since the mast is not a round shape, hose clamps cannot distribute an even pressure around the entire circumference of the boot and therefore they do not seal correctly. The caulking compound becomes thinner when the temperature rises and usually drips down in the cabin area and creates a mess. Under the flexing and movement of the mast, the bond of the caulking compound, which relies on adhesion, breaks down and allows the water on the deck to leak into the cabin area.
An attempt has been made to solve this problem in U.S. Pat. No. 4,227,700 to Merry. Merry provides a metal collar and a resilient ring around the mast. Merry's metal collar inner surface and mast is parallel and the gap between the collar and mast is filled with a resilient material called a ring. He then attempts to keep the resilient ring tight in the gap by placing a resilient wedge or spline in a groove in the top of the resilient ring. Merry uses annular tangs to keep the wedge ring in the gap between the mast and the collar inner surface. The problem with this system is that under constant flexing and movement of the mast, the resilient wedge ring could work out of the gap and therefore the gasket would not seal and the system would leak. There is no positive means to keep the gasket in continuous bearing under pressure as in the present invention.
What is needed is a simple assembly that applies constant pressure on a resilient member in a wedge relationship such that an increase in force on the resilient member by a cap ring provides a tighter seal between the mast and the collar or flange member. In addition, the present invention provides a second embodiment with a flange member and cap ring that comes in two halves which can be used on an existing sailboat with a keel stepped mast and deck.